249607 Resource 226243 228390 228390 1265398909226 1265398909226 Controlled Five VAC Climbing Team Members Qualify for Nationals!

Success is in the air, along with a cloud of climbing chalk dust and the sound of psyched kids. Even with snow on the ground, the children of the Vail Athletic Club are rock climbing, on plastic holds at indoor gyms statewide each weekend as part of the American Bouldering Series (ABS) local competitions. The local competitions qualify the athletes for the Regional Championships held across the nation and locally in Boulder, at the Boulder Rock Club on January 16, 2009. This year the VAC Climbing Team took 14 competitors to Boulder to pull down with some of the strongest climbers in the nation, and several of the US Climbing Team members, for a chance to qualify for the National Championship. The VAC Climbing team is comprised of three teams, ranging in age from 5 to 18, accommodating the beginning climber as well as Nationally ranked competitors, teaching proper technique and climbing safety. The VAC had 14 athletes attend Regionals: Luke Rasmussen, Becca Wirth, Athena Bowe-Janssen, Annika Heid, Logan Jauernigg, Mac Kelsall, Hannah Patterson, Dudley Ottley, Axelina Manning, Julia Heid, Jonah Zeigler, Amalia Manning, Alex Raichart and Abby Townsend. Half of these athletes had never been to Regionals and have been climbing for 3 to 15 months, which is a testament to their dedication and competitive spirit! ABS Regionals is a two stage format, with all of the competition based on difficulty, with ages and genders matched for fairness. Less than half of the competitors qualify for the finals round and only the top 3 or 4 finishers receive an invitation to the ABS National Championships in Alexandria, Virginia. The top three finishers in each gender/age division at Nationals are chosen for the US Climbing Team to compete internationally and eventually in the Olympics! The competition in Boulder was fierce, as Colorado is part of the strongest Region in the US, with several US Climbing Team members and loads of super strong kids from the Southwestern states. Of our 14 athletes, five of them qualified for finals and all five received an invitation to Nationals!! Luke Rasmussen and Logan Jauernigg are veterans at Nationals, each having been there several times all across the nation, but for Becca Wirth, Mac Kelsall and Julia Heid, this will be their first National Championship! Congratulations to all of the competitors for making the season long commitment to improve their technique, to get stronger and to put themselves up against some of the best climbers around. VAC coaches Larry Moore and Adam Markert would like to thank the families for all of their support, each of the athletes who work so hard, as well as all of the other incredible coaches for this tremendous success!! This photo includes (L to R, back to front) VAC coach Larry Moore, Luke Rasmussen, Logan Jauernigg, Becca Wirth, VAC coach Adam Markert, Mac Kelsall and Julia Heid. <img src="/docs/2010NationalsQualified.JPG" width="837" height="509" /> 10 application/xml false ABS climbing climbing comps climbing team nationals regionals USA Climbing Vail climbing gyms Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 2.0.50727) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 ssmith 74.92.220.89 false true false false true 231649 false false true false false false true 249898 Resource 231649 173239 228390 1265750903925 1265816595680 Controlled RE: Five VAC Climbing Team Members Qualify for Nationals!

THANK YOU COACHES ONE AND ALL- FOR ALL YOU DO FOR OUR KIDS! WE LOVE YOU GUYS 10 application/xml false Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; GTB6.4; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 74.93.230.237 false true false false true 226243 blog blogsite/VailMountainLodge/web